A wrap up of 2014

There were many ups and downs in my 2014 and I guess this is the year where I go through Changi Airport the most as well. Some with tears in my eyes and some with smiles on my face.

Last post I mentioned about losing my Dad. What I didn't mention was that I lost my one and only Grandparent that I ever known in my life, my Grandma (Pwa Pwa). I never met my Dad's parents. They died before I was born. My Mom's Dad pass away in Sydney probably when I was around 8 or 9 and I met my Grandma at the age of 13 first time when I went to Sydney even though I grew up with my Grand Aunt (Pwa Pwa's elder sister) till I turned 13, it was a great feeling or I should rather say mixed feelings to meet my only grandparent for the first time in my life when I met Pwa Pwa.

Where my brother and I have lost a father and a grandma this year, my Mom has lost her life partner and her Mom and I am proud of Mom to be this strong.

Pwa Pwa taught me heaps of things in my life.
To be independent
To have faith
To believe in yourself
To never stop learning
To never to afraid to admit something that has been wrong
To be a go getter
To never give up
To hold my head high ever if everything else around is falling to the ground
Lastly, to keep going ....

2014 has been a year where I learnt that I could still do the things that I never thought I would be able to ever again. Challenges that came my way, never did I once hesitated to step back and run away from them but with an amazing support and believe people have in me has made me face them with went through them.  

None of the events that had taken place in 2014 that I would change. Only thing if I could ask would probably be, for my 2015 to have more of the events that would make me smile more.

There were a lot of first times in 2014 for me as well which made it special. I did say there we UPS and DOWNs. So not all are sad stuff.

I got to experience F1 for the first time in my life and loved every bits of it. I was really happy that I made the decision of going (yes, was a little skeptical before decided to get the tickets).

Visited Melbourne for the first time, pretty amazing too and a great experience that will  stay with me forever.

And a couple more.....

Even though, it's still 15 days away to the end of 2014, this is the last well second last post for the year and in the next post (which I hope to do so before 2015 or 1st of 2015) I will be listing down my "goals", my plan for 2015.

With everything above, I just want to say thank you for being in my life and being apart of my life..... Goodnight.


 

2.5 years after and a tribute to the most wonderful person in my life

So many things has happened in my life since the last post. Woah, it's 2.5 years ago. I can't believe I have forgotten how peaceful it is to come here and write my heart out.

I know it's December 2014 but I am not planning to document the past 30 months of my life. BUT, I do want to share a few significant events that took place in my life that I will remember forever.

February 2013  - Dad's 75th Birthday

Dad always loved to go on family trips. His dream was to have the whole family going on a road trip. Yes a road trip. Not a plane ride trip. He loved to stop at random country sides and tried local stuff. Love that about it. So it was a dream came true for him. I flew back to go on a trip with the family. Mom, Dad, my brother and his wife and myself. Mom bought him a 2 hour massage session on his birthday and I will never forget the grin he had after the massage saying it was the best I have ever had in my life. Well Dad, it was US 150 massage and it had better be good. So, all and all he has a really wonderful time and I was really happy I made the effort to go and spend time with the family. Oh and since the trip was sponsored by Mom, at the end of it Dad said, "Dawn, next year you'll be 70th, and I will sponsor the same for you". .....

 

 

December 2013 to May 2014 - Dad's first and last visit my house and first and last ever experiencing my driving.

So Dad seemed to be upset with something and he refused to come and visit me since his last trip in 2009 but he agreed to come along last year December together with Mom and my brother and also to go and visit my sister in law. I was thrilled that I got the chance to drive him and my brother. Trust me, in my 35 years well 34 then I've only been driven by them but never they had ever let me drive. So, DUH! Of cuz I was ecstatic. Dad's comment (She drives better than her husband) :) well that comment was made to Mom and not directly to me. One thing Dad would never do to his children, praise them in their face. He loved the house as well and I was really happy.

From here they continued their trip to my sister in law's place and that's where things start to go down south. Dad was covered with big blot of rashes and he grew weak BUT he never stayed back when the rest had planned to go out. He didn't want one of them to have to stay back because of him. Selflessness was one of his virtues. We were away in Thailand and whenever I saw the pictures of him I knew something wasn't right but he never complained so not to bring down the mood of the rest and ruin their holidays.

Finally they returned back to us and Dad was really in bad shape that he could barely get out of the house because of the rashes and he wasn't sure what was causing him. I felt helpless and took him to the doctor etc.

From there on, he never recovered and finally left us on the 19th May 2014. I miss him but I know he loved us. Very much so that he never laid a hand on both of us, he had never scolded us, he was the diplomat between my Mom and me. He didn't teach us what to do instead he lived and showed us how we should behaved and treat others. He always told us to treat others the way we want to be treated.

Lastly about my Dad, he never liked it when I'm sulking for frowning. He would say "Why do you have to make that ugly face when you have such a gorgeous smile. You should always be smiling and your smile always makes people happy. When you are happy, nothing matters. Be a happy person always"

I love you. Goodnight Dad "Phay Gyi" I promise to keep smiling always.

More 2014 moments to come ......

Kicking of bad habit and other things

So, to continue of my last night's updates:

• Even though I haven't managed to run 5k under 30 mins, I'm quite happy that I managed to run 6km.
• We finally bought a KING size bed!! :)
• Started to drive to work everyday and gain more confidence. (Tip to those who are afraid to drive or scared to drive. Don't. You just need to practice and have more experience on the road. you'll be fine and in no time driving will become a second nature to you. Trust me on this one).
• Drove up to Kota Tinggi with a bunch of friends and it was another awesome experience.
• Drove up to Desaru and Melacca with hubby.
• Stuck in a traffic for 5 hours at the checkpoint which was such a crazy experience.
• My best friend got MARRIED!!!!
• Another friend of ours got MARRIED!!!

Ok, I think that's about it for the updates. 
Now back to current.

Had a hectic day today. Full day of meetings but had a nice lunch. Took an excuse to treat a colleague and had Nando's for lunch :)

The morning was started good with a 4km run before work and felt pretty awesome. Evening was pretty good too with a nice dinner with hubby at the coner chinese place. The food is pretty pathetic but hey it was airconditioned and they've got some noodle soups. :)



Also, there's this bad habit I've been trying to kick. Which I know that I can however at times I just needed to do something for a kick and I found myself doing it. Not good I know. Well one thing I know for sure is if there's a will, there's a way and never too late when you know you want to do it. If today fails, I can start again from now. With that being said, I shall start again from now and I shall report back everyday.
 
By the way, there are like crazy amount of work which I've been pushing aside to do and I think I should probably get them started.
 
Right, I know I do this a LOT but I'm not going to stop just because I feel that I never accomplish them or follow through. Yes, I'm going to make a list of things to be a better person. Sometimes I think self reflecting is good.
 

1. I shall call my parents more often. Which I have been doing it quite well recently. I must admit something. I dread calling back home for a few reasons. I'm afraid I'd get some bad news. I'm afraid to get lecture from my Mom. I'm afraid I'd say wrong things that would upset my Mom. But someone recently who calls their Mom everyday inspired me and reminded that our parents are aging and that we should be doing all we can to spend as much time as we can. Even if it is just a phone call.
2. Keep up with the my gym sessions. At least 5 times a week which currently I am achiving.
3. Eat more healthy meals and make them at home if possible.
4. Have more faith in myself.

I know I'm going to add to this list and amazingly my mind just went blank! Shall continue tomorrow. Goodnight for now.

P.S A friend told me yesterday that I'm the best! Made my day.

After nearly a year and a half....here I am back again

So here I am. Back again and hope to keep this one going. Well just to keep a quick summary of what had happened while I was away for the past year and half.

• I got a new role in my job. (which I do hope to keep it for a while longer even though it's been more than a year now)
• Visited Goa and Jaipur!! one of the highlights.
• Met some really great and interesting people through work and some were sadly no longer with the company for so many reasons.
• Learnt a lot about different people too.
• Been really good with workouts.
• Running for more than 2 months every weekend. Even though it's only on the treadmill, doesn't mean that I will not run outdoor. One day I shall.
• Been taking care of the home.
• We got a new addition to the family. (Ginger. He's another adopted SPCA ginger color kitty.) We both love him dearly.

• Went to Sydney over this year's Good Friday to spend some times with Pwa Pwa. (that reminds me to call her to see how things are with her).
• Went on a cruise to celebrate our 4th year Anniversary together with a close friend couple in February. (Royal Caribbean). To those who has never been on a cruise, I truly recommend you to do so. But do make sure you choose this line. :)

Gosh, I can't believe how much I missed writing and documenting my daily life.


Ok, I gotta head off to bed for now. Hitting gym for my run in the morning. 6am will be the alarm time.


P.S, I still have tons to write up.

How is Yoga?

Well, today is my second day and I must say there were times I feel like just stop and walk away. Yes people, it's hard. Don't even think that it's just stretching and making interesting poses.


Even it is hard and in the middle I thought and wonder am I sure if I can take it I told myself that I am not going to give up. I have given up a few times and a few things in my life BUT I won't give up this time.


So that makes it my second session and I am hoping to make it for the rest of the year.


Now, let me wrap up my weekend adventures. 


Saturday - I decided and told hubby that we shouldn't hit the gym that day as we have tons of things we needed to do. We:-

• Went to the bank.
• Went to Mustafa
• Went to City Square Mall and have some hong kong food at STREATS! YUMMMMYYY
• Walked around City Square Mall (Quite impressed with the number of food places over there)
• Went to find out about the cost for the planks for the mattress (I hope this will solve my back pain problem)
• Went to Casurina Cove to pick up my pendant my MIL sent.
• Came back home and washed the car/waxed the car which took us over 2 hours!!!!(So, I guess we still did our workout just outside the gym)
• When we got back to the house, hubby was starving and asked me to make him the noddles with minced meat and we polished it off. 

Ended the Saturday with just some drinks and dinner at home. 


Sunday - The moment we got up, we got ourselves ready for the gym. Of cuz while doing so, I squeezed in on my laundry. 


I managed to start on my weight training for my UPBW.
Chest
Back
Shoulder
Biceps
Triceps


Also, I managed a HIIT for 20 mins! Pretty awesome it was.

Duration : 20:32 minutes
Distance : 2.20 km
Calories burned : 116

Sweat level : Really Good!

After gym it was around 12 noon and we headed to the travel agent to get my passport extended and to apply for hubby's visa for our February Trip.


Over there we decided to get some Burmese for lunch and hubby had the usual Mee Shay and I had my Kyaye O Si Chat :) Had to wait for awhile and it came only after hubby had already finished his food. :(


We came home after lunch and Enu rang the bell literally 2 minutes after we walked through the door at 2. So, finally the house is nicely broomed and mobbed and me likey!


The project we did this weekend was to make a little gate for Tinkle Bell for her to walk in and walk out of our bedroom. As it happened that she would be scratching the door in the middle of the night as she would get bored and want to go out. After that she would be meowing and scratching the door from outside in the morning cuz she wants to come in the room and jump on top of us and do her business. 


The moment hubby made the hole she went through it! Hubby was extremely happy with this handy man work and that his little daughter knows how to make use of it. I will take picture of it and post it soon. The second thing we need to do is to add a flap on it so that it wouldn't look as ugly as now because we have a cut out card box stuck there at the moment.


That was our little project and in the evening once Enu has done and gone we went out to Arab street to meet up with Jit and Kanu for Sheesha and middle eastern food. We went to this place called Nabin at Haji Lane. Not too bad. I love the ambiance, food and the Sheesha over there. 


We called it a night around 10:00 and after dropping off one of our friends we got home around 10:30 so hubby decided that we'd skip gym for today. 


Anyhoo. I will keep you posted more of my plans on my workouts for the up coming weeks.

Leaving you with Tinki on hubby's side table.

Happy New Year! Hello YOGA!

I know I know, I'm a tad late with this HAPPY NEW YEAR thing BUT! boy I have so much to tell you about how my first 4 day of New Year went.


1st Jan - We did not spend a single dim! It's something really silly or rather cute and may be a little not very convenient tradition. We'd like to believe that if we do not spend a single thing on a new year day we will not have to spend so much for the rest of the year. So, even when we went out with Jit and Kanu to Arab street for hokka and dinner we told them that they will have to treat us since we won't be spending. So, they did!

It was my first day back to the gym also and I was pretty happy to be back I must say.


2nd Jan - For the very first time Hubby and I went to the Church together and I had my holy communion. It was just lovely. After church we had lunch with my old friend and believe it or not, a hawker stall which I used to eat like 4 years ago is still around and best of all the stall owner remembers me! It was such a surprised.


We also went to meet hubby's friend's second daughter. Which we were supposed to do for a long time. 


3rd Jan - nothing much exciting happened. Oh, I picked up our tickets to go back home in Feb.


4th Jan - Woo hoo, my very first Yoga lesson. Hatha yoga and it was just amazing. At the moment I have mixed feelings about it. I do admit that I was feeling totally energized for the rest of the day where it was one mad day. I had so much drama to take care of at work and my work ended only around 10:30.


Today 5th Jan - My arms were super sore BUT we went to the gym and I ran! For some reason, I know I need to lose a few kgs well I know exactly 6kg. So let's see if I can do it. I somewhat know I can.

BTW, so far we are doing good at the kicking of bad habit front :)

Last post for 2010

So, I guess now we can say we made it through 2010 and on to 2011. We had many nice times with friends and family and hoping this will continue for the year coming up ahead. 


Managed to hang out with my best friend before the year ended. Just wanted to share some few last photos.

For hubby and me, we'll just be counting down to New Year at home. How about you? Any plans to go somewhere to count down?